Work Force: University Helps CIO Bridge IT Talent Gap

If you're a recent college graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, which do you choose: the lure of potentially higher salaries in private industry or the security of a public-sector job?

For the last 25 years, some computer science students enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles, have taken advantage of a longstanding internship program that places them with public-sector agencies. But now, school officials struggle to find enough interns for the participating agencies, and it has nothing to do with students flocking to the private sector.

The last couple of years, there literally haven't been enough interns enrolled to fill available slots in government agencies hungry to find young, talented recruits.

Founded in 1983, Cal State L.A.'s Computer Professional Internship program has given seniors and graduate students studying in the departments of information systems, computer science and computer engineering at several L.A.-area universities a head start in finding full-time employment after college. Interns are hired on a contractual basis and receive an hourly wage and full benefits, including vacation days. They must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average and carry at least a part-time course load in the evening. In most cases, interns are expected to put in a standard 40-hour workweek.

What's the payoff for such a hectic schedule? If the intern excels, he or she stands a good chance of being hired to a full-time job. Universities nationwide have seen sharp enrollment declines in computer science degree programs. That factor, combined with a looming wave of retirements by the baby boomers, has boiled it down to a simple case of supply and demand.

"While that's not all IT, it's even harder to get folks in IT because there's great demand," said Jesse Juarros, CIO of the L.A. County Department of Public Works (DPW), one of the agencies that utilize the Computer Professional Internship program. Enrollment in college computer programs has actually gone down, he said. "So when you have less enrollment and higher demand, it is very difficult to attract people and keep that pipeline full. We have money for interns, but we can't even bring them in [sometimes] because they aren't available."

The program is an integral recruiting tool, Juarros said, adding that the DPW also has hired sought-after college graduates from all over Southern California, including Cal State, Long Beach; Cal State, Northridge; Cal State, Dominguez Hills; Cal Poly Pomona; University of California, Irvine; University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; and others.

"Why this program is unique [is] that the Cal State L.A. program does everything for you, and then sends you the intern," Juarros said. "We can bring someone in within a week or two."

Interns Don't Make Coffee
The partnership between Cal State L.A. and the DPW is especially close, if for no other reason than geography. The campus and the agency are literally down the street from each other, less than 3 miles apart. The proximity often is a deciding factor for students weighing, upon graduation, job prospects in the more lucrative private sector versus public service.

According to Adam Huarng, professor and chair of Cal State L.A.'s Department of Information Systems, who also coordinates the internship program the DPW pays well. "As an internship, they pay $14 per hour, but the beginning salary is at least $60,000. And some students, they prefer job security, and they don't want to leave town -- because most of our students are local. The Public Works Department is close to campus and their homes."

Furthermore, the opportunity to audition for a job is also attractive.